Cancer-stricken mum told 'miracle' son, 2, could die after doctors ignored warning signs

A mum battling cancer was overjoyed at finally having a son – but that joy turned to agony when he was also diagnosed with the cruel disease.

Nikki Seymour, 46, was undergoing chemotherapy after a double mastectomy when she came to a heartbreaking conclusion. “I decided if I couldn’t have children I didn’t want to be here anymore,” she recalled. “I had been trying for 20 years so I thought, ‘What is the point of just beating cancer and then being alone?’”

During herhealth struggles, she met a woman called Laquiesha, who told her she would carry her child if she carried on with chemo. Nikki’s embryo was then placed inside Laquiesha on December 21, 2021, exactly one year to the day when the mum-to-be was told she had breast cancer.

READ MORE: Urgent new DWP alert as some have £60 a month taken from their benefits

READ MORE: Opticians 'could predict heart attacks and strokes' during routine eye scans

Despite the exhilaration of eventually holding her baby in her arms, further heartache was to come. Her son, Kit, now two, was diagnosed with stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma, meaning his aggressive cancer had spread. He is currently undergoing his own chemotherapy battle like his mum did, but Nikki said: “They told me quite clearly he has a 50-50 chance of beating this.

“There is a 50% chance he might die and a 50% chance he might live… but there is also a 40% chance that the chemo could kill him.”

Through many tears, an incredibly brave Nikki shared her story for the first time, with the aim of raising awareness about her son’s symptoms, after he was turned away from A&Es, paediatricians and GPs over 30 times.

When he was eventually diagnosed, the cancer had spread all over his body, and Nikki wants to help other parents so they never have to reach that critical point.

As for early warning signs, Nikki, a sales and events manager from Warwickshire, said: “Kit had severe constipation from the age of six months. He had a hard stomach and a hard lump. He didn’t want to walk any more, he didn’t eat, he had no appetite, he slept all the time.

“So constipation was the main one, tiredness, lethargic, being sick, he bruised really easily, getting out of breath even, all of these symptoms were part of Kit’s neuroblastoma.”

Despite the worrying symptoms, Nikki was made to feel like an “overprotective” mum, and was constantly turned away when she sought answers. Usually she was sent home with different types of laxatives and enemas that did not solve the problem.

Experts assured her it was just constipation but after she demanded an X-ray, Kit was soon bluelighted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where his stage 4 neuroblastoma was confirmed.

Remembering in her own words, she said: “I took him to A&E and they sent me home and I woke up the next day and demanded an X-ray. My doctor had already referred me at this point for a scan, and I said, 'I am not waiting, I want one now'.

“They decided to give him an X-ray and I heard them talking about a mass. I had a breakdown, demanded an ultrasound there and then.”

During the ultrasound, Kit was crying in pain, and Nikki added: “There was another nurse next to me and she started scanning him and I saw the mass, and I said, ‘It is cancer isn’t it?’”

Despite not yet having biopsies done, the nurse told her she believed Kit had high risk neuroblastoma, which ultimately turned out to be the case.

This is a cancer that mostly affects children under five and usually forms in a type of nerve cell called a neuroblast, often in the stomach.

The main symptoms are a lump in the tummy, stomach pain and constipation, with additional symptoms like tiredness, loss of appetite, breathlessness and bruising occurring if the cancer has spread.

Because Kit’s cancer was not detected quickly enough, it had spread from his abdomen to different areas of his body, including in his bones, knees, stomach, spine, kidney and on the top of his skull.

Giving advice to other parents who are potentially being dismissed as she was, she pleaded: “Demand, demand, demand an X-ray, a CT scan or an ultrasound. An ultrasound you can be in and it is over within a minute.”

Nikki, who is still taking her own cancer medication after struggling to get clear margins, has now been in the hospital every day with her little boy who has started chemotherapy treatment.

While chatting to the Mirror, Nikki said that it was her daughter Rue’s first birthday, and she had not seen her little girl on her special day because she had been in the hospital with Kit.

Despite having less than 1% chance of falling pregnant, she tried an embryo transfer while taking a year off her cancer medication due to aches and pains, and it worked, meaning Rue was eventually born this time last year.

And speaking about what has got her through an unimaginably difficult few years, she cried: “When I had cancer, nothing kept me going, nothing at all, until I met Laquiesha.

“And now he (Kit) keeps me going and now I have Rue as well, and she keeps me going, that’s it, nothing else, just them.”

Nikki praised her own mum, who spends a lot of time looking after Rue, saying she showed her the ropes on how to be a good parent.

Little Kit, who turns three in August, now has a 50% chance of completing his high dose chemo, a stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. He is also having weekly blood and platelet transfusions.

And whatever happens, Nikki will be by his side through each step. While she is in hospital, her friends, Holly Adams and Natalie Wood, are promoting a GoFundMe page for her.

Already, almost £20,000 has been raised, and the money is helping to cover Nikki and her loved ones who are regularly travelling and staying near the hospital in Birmingham.

Money for child care costs for Kit’s little sister Rue are also being raised for Nikki who has been advised she may have to sell her home to keep on top of her mounting bills after having to take considerable time away from work.

Nikki is now sharing her story because she feels like she has been failed – and she wants other parents to know about this rare cancer that has threatened to destroy the life she spent 20 years fighting for.

To make a donation on the GoFundMe, you can do so here